


Cigarette 2

by gregthepaladin



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, Sad, Sadstuck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-26
Updated: 2012-03-26
Packaged: 2017-11-02 13:46:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/369647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gregthepaladin/pseuds/gregthepaladin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dave smokes a cigarette with Rose.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cigarette 2

**Author's Note:**

> This isn't a sequel to "Cigarette" so much as a spiritual successor. "Cigarette" was a sub-500 word smoke break between Roxy and Dirk, and I liked the format so much that I decided to use it again.
> 
> The two don't take place in the same universe, and neither approaches canon nor anything so complex as an "AU". Let's just call these character studies. I hope you enjoy.

Dave whispered, so as to only wake his sister and not her girlfriend. "Hey. You got a light?"

"Yeah." Rose sharply inhaled and rubbed sleep from her face. Her lungs stuck to the walls of her chest. "I'll come out with you, one second."

Dave stepped out to the balcony, still wearing his clothes from last night. Rose threw on a robe. She brought out a quickly brewed mug of black coffee for each of them.

The air was too cold for either to be comfortable but not cold enough to really bitch about. The sunlight was the more pressing problem; every time a tree would sway out of the way, they'd both be confronted with the new day forcing itself on them. At least Dave had sunglasses.

Rose pulled her soft-pack of Virginia Slims from her purse, along with her gas-station Bic lighter. She lit up and handed it to Dave, who pulled from a pack of Marlboro Reds.

"You don't smoke cloves?"

"I'm not goth and it's not the 90's, David."

"You aren't 45 and drinking a mimosa after securing The Big Account either, but you're smoking Virginia Slims."

"Yes, well."

The plastic deck chairs wobbled under each of them.

Dave tried his coffee. "Am I supposed to ask who was in bed with you?"

"You're welcome to."

"Who was that in bed with you?"

"I don't know, I didn't get her name." Rose smiled behind her mug.

Dave didn't know what to think about that.

"I'm fucking with you, her name is Kanaya. We've been dating for like two months."

"Sounds exotic."

"Oh" Rose purred, "She is."

Dave dragged deeply from the cigarette. He held it between his fingers even as he rubbed behind his glasses.

"Thanks for letting me stay here for a while." He had the shades, but still didn't make eye contact.

Rose waved his thank you away. "Not even close to a problem. I gave you a key for a reason. Can I ask you something, though?"

"Yeah."

"What happened with you and Jade? Wasn't that a thing a while ago?"

He hadn't thought about that in a long time. Or, at least, no one had asked him about it in a long time. He swallowed his coffee. "We kind of grew apart."

"I am not satisfied with your answer."

"I'm devastated by that." Dave dragged from his cigarette. "No, she and I...I don't know. We didn't really have a lot in common. I think we sort of operated on different levels."

Rose used her cigarette to point at Dave's soul. "Through a combination of your narcissistic and self-hatred disorders as well as fears of abandonment, you pushed her away before she could push you away, and justified it by convincing yourself you're somehow worth more than her."

Dave held his mug with both hands. "Sounds about right."

"I know it's right, because you've done it with more than half the people you've been with romantically, and nearly all of the people you haven't been with romantically." Smoke, sip. "Including your lovely sister."

"Should I stay with someone I don't think is worth my time?"

"Well David that very much depends on what you're doing with your time." Rose hid her face in her mug.

Dave finished his cigarette. "You gonna psychoanalyze me every day I'm here?"

Rose laughed. "If you're not paying rent, you're paying in some other way."

Dave stubbed out his cigarette and stepped inside. Rose's girlfriend was sitting up in bed, covered only in blankets.

"Are you watching cartoons?"

She was. "I am. Do you want to watch?"

Dave absolutely wanted to watch cartoons. He chewed at the inside of his lip. "I do, but I have something I gotta work on. I'll catch you later, though. Be good to my sister."

\---

"I don't think your brother likes me."

"He likes you just fine, dear. He doesn't much like himself, but I think he's working on that." Rose kissed Kanaya on the cheek.


End file.
